The Sedalia weekly bazoo. [volume] (Sedalia, Mo.) 187?-1904, 1887-05-17

| suo Soiucs SoAO eA9ico sWiHSplS hcfScL
over a bowlder till her feet found q
resting place beneath, then on again,
In what seemed reckless leaps, from
rock to rock! They ran to meet her.
and reached the cliff just as the woman,
torn. breathless. bleeding, staggered "a
Its foot.
Before he,could speak they had time
to see that she was a peasant woman.
her dress and cap denoting her to be OF
the class which lives far from towns and
cities. She had lost both her sabots in
her journey down the cliff. but at her
back still hung the coarse wicker basket
used by the fish wives on that coast.
She was young and strong, and on her
face was q look of terror and despair
such as the boys had never seen before.
In q moment she began to speak
rapidly in language which neither of
the boys understood, but which they
knew to be Breton, the ancient Ian.
guage of these curious peasant folks.
Rob shook his head and said in
French: ''We do not understand Bre:
ton. but we both speak French"
The woman's face grew pale as she
heard; she began even more hurriedly
and excitedly to pour out some tale In
the unknown tongue. asking questions.
pausing for the reply which they could
not make. pointing with vehemence
out to sea and the storm-swept horizon.
Sometimes she seemed almost frenzied
and her voice arose to positive shrek
and then sunk again to low wall.
They could not understand one word
she said. and her wild gestures were
all without meaning for them. Dis
tress, however, does not need an inter-
prefer, and young as the boys were,
they could plainly see that some great,
uncommon sorrow was driving this
woman mad. She covered her face
with her hands. moaning piteously,
or threw her arms high in the air; then
seeing the fright and pity on their boy
ish faces, she seized Franks hand, and
holding it tightly. began to pour out
long story. The utter blankness of his
face made her dash him aside, and
thus, catching sight of their boat drawn
up on the beach, she ran swiftly to it,
followed more slowly by the boys.
She tried with all her might to drag
or push the boat down to the water,
but, strong as she was, she could move
the Star only few inches, and after
several moments of greatest effort, she
turned once more to the boys, to go
through a pantomime which clearly
said that she begged them to help her
get the boat off and out to sea.
WELL" said Frank, as the idea
dawned upon him, s'did you ever hear
of such thing! She actually wants
US to go outside in weather like this,
and every minute growing worse! No,
[ thank your
why does she want us to 60, won
der?''
THAT we shall never know; and IL
does not make much matter, since we
would not go on any account"
81 believe I have it. She has lost her
boatr " @
''How could that trouble her so
much? A boats boat, but she goes
on as if her boat were a matter of life
and death"
cit often is to these fisherfolk. They
can't fish without a boat, and they
can't live without fishing. I'll try to
ask her."
He laid his hand OH the woman's
shoulder, and pointing to the boat, he
said-with some idea that she could
understand French better than Eng
lish: ''BateauP" And then out to the
horizon: "Bateau?" .
The woman nodded; she understood
him, and her hope revived in frenzy
Of excitement. She pulled away at
the Star, laughing and moulding, and
saying: "Bateau! bateau!" with every
other breath.
Bob was keenly sorry for her, and
his first impulse was to go with her,
but yet he was not ready to run such
tremendous risk, and then, too, Lis
promise to his father came to his MINI
with such force as to be almost a warn
ing. At the same time, he wondered
what his father would say were he
there2 Would he not wish him to help
q woman in such deep distress, even at
serious risk to HIMSELF AS he stood
rejecting upon this, he was gazing out
over the water. Suddenly he made a
discovery.
81 see it, Frank! 1 see it, There!
there!" andsIhe too pointed eagerly to
the spot where the woman had so often
pointed.
: Frank looked, and just then wave
in the far distance rose higher than its
fellows, and he plainly saw a tiny
speck, in shape like boat, rise on its
crest. and sink into the trough behind